SantaCon ... Who Knew????

Saturday was my scheduled shoot in San Francisco.  We left early, heading out with clothes, makeup and model to the big city for a photography shoot I've been thinking about for a long time.  It turned out good and bad!!  I hate it when that happens, because I expect it all to be GOOD!!!

As we boarded BART in Walnut Creek we noticed a few people dressed as Santa Claus.  Not unusual since it's Christmas time ... little did we know what we were in for upon arrival in San Francisco.

SANTACON was in full swing!!  What is SantaCon you ask???  My question exactly ... and it took quite some time to figure it out.  But first ... the big shoot!!  My idea was to have a model standing in the BART station while the train passed behind her.  Shooting this at a slow speed would mean the model was clear and sharp ... the train blurry behind her.  Easier said than done!!!  The model was perfect, as was the train.  It was the photographer that had the problem.  I forgot to remove a filter I had on the lens from a previous shoot ... which caused the model in every image to be blurred.  I got some amazing images ... all out of focus.  The worst part is that none of this was visible until I returned home.  This quick test shot was the best I had.  I said a lot of very bad words .....

Afraid we were going to be arrested, we didn't stay long at this location, even though it was rather hidden.  Bart security doesn't allow pictures!!  Flirty Nancy showed up to smile and wave at the train engineer so he wouldn't turn us in while he waited for people to board, as we shot the last couple images.  

Lunch in the San Francisco Shopping Center at Charleys Grilled Subs was an excellent choice since Rubios (my favorite) was no longer in business.  It was here that we noticed more and more Santas ... in fact there were hundreds of Mr. and Mrs. Claus'.

Heading to our next location, we pushed through the crowds of costumes, some rather skimpy, as you can imagine San Francisco would have.  It was crazy crowded with people .. no photos here ... and so we went the long way around the block to the third site ... Macys!!  Their window displays were in full animation ... so much so that we HAD to see what the commotion was about.  Puppies ... cutest little puppies EVER are running around in the window display for SPCA adoptions!!  Inside Macys and headed to Union Square, we were again inundated with Santas and finally found out why. 

SantaCon ... never heard of it.  We still didn't realize what it was until we heard one of the employees explain that Union Square had been made into an ice rink, with bars all around the outside edge.  People come from all over in their Santa outfits to ice skate and drink until all hours of the night!!  You want in, you wear the suit!!  This is as close as we could get ... looking out the window at the roof of the parking garage where the ice rink was located.  

So much for the third shoot site ... lets try the backup backup plan ... shopping!!!  Two hours later, we are exhausted fighting people looking for the best deal.  With a few small purchases in hand, we walked back to Bart for the ride home.  

Here's a couple more images ... it's always windy as the train enters the station, pushing the air ahead of it.  I took advantage of this several times since usually you need a fan for the blown-hair effect.  

Miss Syd is a stunning model ... she knows the looks and the moves.  I'm sorry this shoot was such a disaster ... but I guess there's a first time for everything!!!  We have already rescheduled for February.

Note to self:  Check with San Francisco City Chamber to be sure there is nothing going on that day and triple check your camera!!!!!